The Monsters of Kiri
by AntidoteToDespair
Summary: What if Mizuki killed Iruka before going after Naruto? The effects would be more drastic than anyone realized
1. Chapter I

Chapter I

"Hey, Iruka. It's been a while since we sparred, eh?" The academy students had just left and the two academy teachers were preparing to go home.

Iruka was oddly tired today, but he wouldn't decline an offer from his good childhood friend. "Sure, Mizuki. Taijutsu only though; for some reason I'm feeling drained today." _Must be the genin exams._

Mizuki only grinned and shunshined to the practice area.

xxx

The practice area was small for two chuunin and was surrounded by targets, as it was used for academy students. It would suffice, however. Both ninja had their reasons for wanting to make the bout short.

The two faced each other and bowed. "Hajime!"

Iruka immediately went on the offensive, going for the quick knockout so that he could go home and take a nap. He threw three shuriken and went in for a chakra-enhanced palm thrust.

Mizuki had eaten his wheaties this morning though and would have none of that. He deflected the shuriken with a kunai and back flipped out of the way.

Iruka tried the same thing but fails again, suddenly becoming dizzy. Mizuki takes advantage of his delirium and appears behind him.

"This is for all the pain you've caused me," Mizuki said as he slit Iruka's throat. Iruka fell limply to the ground, his last sight being one he'd never anticipate.

"I shall avenge your family though, Iruka. By killing the damned demon fox!" Mizuki laughed manically, heading off to find Naruto, whom he told could pass the exams if he stole the Forbidden Scroll.

xxx

In the woods, Naruto had just finished mastering the Shadow Clone Jutsu, even taking the time to fully read the description. Why not, right? Might be extra credit.

He moved down to what he thought was another cool jutsu, something else to do with clones. He'd just finished reading the description with two shadow clones when they suddenly shoved him out of the way, narrowly avoiding being hit by a fuuma shuriken. The shuriken curved and pierced through many of his clones, something he received memories of.

"Naruto! You pass the exam! Go ahead and toss me the scroll now, and you can become an official genin!" Mizuki shouted from the trees above.

"Y-you think I'm an idiot, traitor?" Naruto growled, still off balance from the pain of the shuriken piercing his clones. "It says at the top of the scroll 'all who attempt to steal shall be hung.' You tricked me!"

Mizuki laughed. "Who cares? You're the fucking demon brat, kid. Nobody is gonna give a shit what happens to you. Know why?"

Naruto hung his head, receiving flashbacks of the villagers stares of hatred. "Twelve years ago, you burned the village down, killing thousands. You are a monster; the Kyuubi reincarnate!"

Naruto dropped to his knees in a state of shock as suddenly things made sense. The hostility, the kids avoiding him, the ramen shop owners being kind to him, it all fit. "No.."

Mizuki's laughter filled the forest as he unsealed another Fuuma Shuriken. "Yes! And when I kill you, I'll be seen as a hero!"

Time slowed as Naruto watched the giant shuriken come straight at him, paralyzed by a mixture shock and fear. He registered white-hot, searing pain as the fuuma shuriken hit its mark before lapsing into unconsciousness.

xxx

When he awoke, Naruto found himself inside a sewer. It was dark, wet and felt surreal, like he was dreaming. He looked down sleepily as he saw himself beginning to fade; wonder what that means?

Suddenly he was jolted awake by what appeared to be red chakra dragging him through the sewer. "Human!" a deep voice intoned. "You idiot!"

The stream suddenly stopped as he appeared in front of a huge red fox in a cage sealed by a small piece of paper. The giant fox with the upper body of a male human was trying to look menacing, but the worry on its face was evident. The fox also, and now their surroundings, seemed to be fading.

"Foolish human! You're going to kill us both unless you remove a piece of the seal!" the beast raged against the cage, nine tails going berserk behind it.

"You're the Kyuubi!" Naruto said in a burst of clarity as the red chakra flowing into him suddenly thrust him up to a small piece of paper with the kanji for 'seal.'

"Yes! But intro's later, boy. If you don't remove a piece of the seal now and let more chakra flow into you, we'll both die!" Kyuubi said desperately.

The walls were almost totally faded away now, and this was just a dream, right? So Naruto complied, ripping a small corner piece of the seal off.

The red chakra flowing into him grew immensely, like a dam being let out, and the room became extremely bright.

xxx

Naruto awoke and immediately sat up, heart beating wildly as he remembered what had just transpired. He felt his torso with a sense of dread, but the Fuuma Shuriken was lying at his side in a puddle of blood. So that means..

He was going to live! And as he looked down at the fading scar on his torso, he noticed something else; his senses were sharper. He could hear, see, and smell everything in the forest around him.

He jumped to his feet, feeling reborn as he took in his surroundings. The smell of the night, the Forbidden Scroll gone, the sound of an owl..

"The Forbidden Scroll gone?" Naruto panicked, using his new night vision to look around. It didn't appear to be anywhere, which means-

The realization hit him like a ton of bricks. He stole. Mizuki had the scroll now. What did that make him? A criminal, a failure.

And since stealing the scroll and worse, losing it were such crimes, it looked like he had just royally fucked up his last Genin exam.

Naruto couldn't tell if it was nerves or not, but he swore he could hear ANBU patrols coming. _I better get the hell out of here before I go to prison, _he thought frantically.

So it's with the instinct of self preservation that our blond hero ran off towards the unknown, idly noticing he'd become much faster. He spotted a trail and opted to run alongside it.

It would not be an easy road ahead.

xxx

"Hokage-sama, I am sorry to inform you that we were unable to stop Mizuki. He has passed Fire Country and avoided the border patrols.

"However, we have located Naruto Uzumaki, who now seems to be fleeing. What course of action should we take?" The ANBU team gathered kneeled, ready to kill on command.

Sarutobi remained silent, watching Naruto on his crystal ball with mixed emotions. A part of him wanted him back in the village, but would that really make Naruto happy? He felt like he'd messed up Naruto's life enough; the boy had no real friends, was held in contempt by the majority of the village, didn't know who his parents were, and had been on his own his entire life.

If Naruto thought he would be happier elsewhere, why not? It's not like he'd be in huge amounts of danger. He'd just have Jiraiya keep tabs on him, and besides, he'd probably be back within the week.

Though that posed another problem. Naruto did _steal _the scroll, and then _lose_ it, even though he was innocent enough that he'd not known the severity of such a crime. Still, it would not bode well with the council. Especially Danzo; the power hungry fool was looking for any chance to overthrow him and turn Naruto into another one of his mindless war machines.

It was decided then. Naruto leaving must be meant to be, and it's the least he could do after all this time to excuse his crime and let the boy forge his own path.

Sarutobi cleared his crystal ball, sighing deeply. "Do not pursue Naruto. Arrange instead for a team to track down Mizuki and apprehend him."

The squad of elites nodded and disappeared. Sarutobi leaned back in his chair overlooking the village, looking at the Hokage Monument. _Minato, has this old man done the right thing?_

If he was younger, he would have swore he saw Minato's stone face smiling.

xxx

Naruto dashed through the forest in the moonlight, suddenly coming to a stop as he saw a chariot carried by two oxen pulling many caravans approaching from the right side of the intersection before him. The two men driving were unrecognizable in dark clothes and masks, but it was apparent to Naruto, growing up in the slums, that these men were drunk as hell.

They were loud, howling and shouting obscenities as they chugged large quantities of sake. _I wonder what the celebration is,_ Naruto thought, slipping behind a nearby tree to avoid being seen. The chariot gave him an idea of what to do about his escape problem.

The men were passing him now, trailed by four caravans draped in dark cloth. "Y-yeah -hick- we'z gon fuck -hick- her rel good, eh?" the man said, waving around an empty sake container while idly whipping the oxen.

The other man guffawed, replying equally as loudly. "Ya know -hick- it. W-wee gon fuck her and -hick- take her to boss Hidan, then we get -hick- to be members." He howled to the moon, turning behind him and laughing.

Naruto didn't know what was going on, but if anything, these evil men gave him extra incentive to follow them. If anything, he'd just hitch a free ride to a new place where he could start over. So he stealthily ran behind the last caravan as it passed by him, lifting up the cloth and going inside. What he saw made him gasp in shock.

The aforementioned girl sat strapped to a chair, hands shackled in strange luminescent handcuffs, blindfolded, and mouth gagged. She was pale, her long silver hair messy, and black robe torn in many places. The sight evoked deep anger within him.

He crawled on his knees across the otherwise clear floor. It would have been impossible to see inside here with his old eyes, but now it seemed the shadows could not hide from him. There was time to ponder that later though. Right now, he had someone to help.

Naruto started by removing the blindfold, which actually was a.. bra? Strange, but his train of thought was immediately halted as he stared into mesmerizing gold slitted eyes. They glowed in a way that made him want to go into a deep trance.

He shook himself out of it, wondering what he was doing. Taking out the gag, which was.. her other piece of underwear. "Ahh!" Naruto cried out, possibly blowing his cover. _Shit._

He blushed, throwing the garment to the side. The smell seemed to stir something in him, but, again, now was not the time. He scratched the back of his head sheepishly, going now for the handcuffs. "Sorry."

She'd been eyeing him calmly the entire time, but her eyes widened in alarm as he reached for the special handcuffs. "Don't." Her voice had a sharp edge that made Naruto immediately stop.

"What?" he asked quickly. If she wanted to be freed, this and the chair were the last obstacles.

"The handcuffs will shock you unless you have the key," she explained carefully, eyeing him again. The gaze was kind of unnerving.

Since he was a blond, he touched the handcuffs, receiving a large shock in the process. "Owchie!" he yelped.

"So where's the key?" he asked impatiently, wanting to walk off the shock.

She looked ahead as her voice took an icy edge to it. "One of those idiots has it. Why?"

He spoke as though it was the most obvious thing in the world. "I'm going to get it."

The girl's eyed widened as he exited the caravan. "Wait - don't!" Did this orange wearing idiot think he could take down two ninja, drunk or not?

Apparently so, as he hurried out of the caravan and went to approach the villains.

xxx

Naruto jumped out in front of the caravan, using his newest jutsu. "Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" Hundreds of clones formed, blocking the chariot from moving forward.

The men just went into a fit of laughter, making no move to stop the chariot. "Is this -hick- orange fuckers serious? We -hick- run 'im ov'r."

That was not Naruto's plan however, as his clones swept off to either side of the men, effectively blocking them off. The Naruto doppelgangers charged from either side, preparing to punch both ninja into submission.

And somehow, it worked. Each clone gave a devastatingly hard punch before expelling, allowing another to take its place. The real Naruto cut the ropes connecting the oxen to the chariot with a kunai. It did not keep advancing, however, as the other third of Naruto clones guided the oxen out of the way and pushed the chariot and the caravans following it to a standstill.

There was a large cloud of smoke as Naruto registered the last of his clones dispelling. As the smoke cleared and the oxen fled, he could make out two bloody figures laying out to the sides of the chariot. They lay in puddles of blood, eyes wide open and tongues hanging out. The strange emerging side of him hungered for more blood, but he repressed this side more as he focused on more important things.

The key. With his new night vision, Naruto could make it out beside one of the men. He went and picked it up, rushing back to the last caravan where the girl awaited.

xxx

"You were lucky," she said as he unlocked the handcuffs, making them fall to the caravan floor with a _clang. _"If they weren't drunk and could use their peripheral vision, you'd be dead." She flexed her wrists as she simultaneously broke out of the rope tying her to the chair.

Naruto shrugged, moving out of the caravan to explore the others. "Maybe, but every good ninja is lucky."

She followed him, nodding. "I suppose you're right. Thank you. Now we must burn the bodies."

Naruto shuddered, the repressed side still calling for more bloodshed. "What for?"

She sighed, standing straight, looking at the full moon. "Don't be naïve. Hunter-nin could trace this, and I'm sure you don't need a criminal backround haunting you."

Naruto chuckled. "A bit late for that."

Now it was her turn to arch an eyebrow. "You? Orange wearing hero? Explain." She motioned for him to stand back as she did signs for a fire jutsu.

"Naruto Uzumaki, future Hok- never mind. I stole the Forbidden Scroll of Konoha and lost it to a traitor. You?" Something in her voice suggested she too was exiled.

The girl blew a stream of fire, incinerating the bodies and allowing the ashes to blow away in the night breeze. "Yumi. Sold off when Yukagakure (Village Hidden in Hot Water) decided they no longer wanted to be a ninja village. They sold various kuinochi like myself into slavery."

Naruto frowned. "That's wrong. Nobody deserves that."

Yumi nodded, once again looking to the moon. "Yes. And, though it can be hard people like us must look to the future. It is the only way to remain sane."

Naruto hummed in thought, letting a comfortable silence fill the crisp night air. "So, what now?"

She turned to face him, again mesmerizing him with those glowing gold eyes. "I don't know. It seems I owe you a favor, and I dislike owing people favors. No offense."

Naruto scratched the back of his head, grinning. "It was nothing. You don't owe me anything. Though maybe directions would be helpful."

She smiled, but suddenly coughed and shivered, wrapping her arms around herself as the night wind chilled her. "There should be an inn up the road. I heard dumb and dumber talking about it earlier." She shivered again, rubbing her hands together in an attempt to create friction. Her legs were bare and the robe had a major tear in the right side, allowing the cold wind to get through.

Naruto saw this, removing his beloved orange jacket. "Here, take it. I don't get cold anyways."

Yumi took it, putting it on and placing her hands in the deep pockets. It still held some of Naruto's body heat, and was much better than the thin fabric of the robe. "Thank you. Now let's go to the inn ahead. I'm out of chakra and dangerously close to reaching a hypothermic state."

xxx

Reaching the inn did not take long, and soon they found themselves faced with a skinny young man inside. He barely even looked at them, just asking for the money while continuing to read something under the old desk.

Naruto got out his frog wallet, dumping all of its contents on the desk. The man glanced at the money. "This only pays for one room."

Naruto clenched his teeth. "That's all I got. What about yo-"

"One room is fine," Yumi interjected, shooting Naruto a look of acceptance. The man threw them a set of keys with a number and went back to reading his book. He'd learned that with people like this, it was just better for business not to ask questions.

Naruto and Yumi climbed the steps to the top of the seemingly deserted inn, on the third floor. _Room 31_ their key said, Naruto nervously opening the door.

Inside, it wasn't a whole lot better than a motel; yellow walls, wood floor, ugly wallpaper. But it had a bed, a small closet, and a bathroom, so it would suffice. The room's best feature though was the view of the lake outside from the small window.

Unfortunately though, the window was _broken_. Yumi shivered as Naruto went to try to cover it up. "It's broken, Naruto-san."

Naruto attempted to cover it, but the wind was too strong and nothing would hold. Naruto sighed. "We should get a new room."

Yumi shook her head. "No. This bed looks warm enough. It's good." She crawled in, pulling the covers up while apparently leaving space for him.

He just made his way to the wood floor, turning off the room's light on the way. "I'll sleep on the floor. I don't get cold for some reason, yeah."

Rustling of clothes was heard. "No, I insist. It would be better to share body heat, anyways. I need your warmth, Naruto-_kun._" The way she said it again stirred something in him.

Naruto reluctantly got up, still being able to see in the dark. "If you insist." He climbed into the bed, staying far to the side out of courtesy and not hogging the only pillow.

He saw her frown. "Closer. I can't stay warm like this." He moved closer, and was able to feel how cold she was. She was also wearing nothing now.

"Remove your clothes, also."

Naruto jerked back, thinking she was joking. "What?"

"Does removing your clothes bother you so much as to compromise my health?" she asked in a manner that made him feel like he was being childish and inconsiderate. "Clothes inhibit body heat from reaching a person as efficiently."

Naruto blushed, deciding to comply. He took off his clothes, throwing them awkwardly to the floor. Immediately Yumi hugged his body, which felt so deathly cold that it worried him.

"Are you sick?" he asked in concern.

She hugged him tighter, giving Naruto a feel of her rather ample chest. "You're a very warm blanket; this is all I need."

Naruto remained silent, just hugging her closer. She really was deathly cold.

_So this is a hug, _they both thought as they drifted off to sleep, having never experienced much loving human contact before. _I could get used to this._

**Please review, even if it is only a few words**


	2. Chapter II

Chapter II

Morning. The sun was shining, the birds singing, the deer and the antelope playing. It would be a great morning except for one thing.

Naruto found himself in a _very_ compromising position. Sometime during the night, Yumi had gotten on top of him, and while Naruto enjoyed the new found closeness, the contact was making a certain part of his anatomy uncomfortable.

It was also a bit difficult to breathe. Since she was taller than him, this put her breasts (which Naruto noted were larger than they first appeared) at the perfect position to suffocate him.

While this wouldn't be a bad way to go out, Naruto had other aspirations. He gently shook the girl's shoulder. "Can't. Breathe."

She moaned, hugging him tighter. "So warm. Like a heating blanket."

"Smop, pwease," Naruto whimpered.

She smiled and rolled off him, inadvertently brushing against his groin. "Sorry. You're just so cozy."

Naruto sighed. "Glad I make a good pillow." He reached under the bed to grab his clothes.

"You have no idea." Yumi proceeded to gather the worn robe and walk into the bathroom, completely unconcerned with her nakedness.

The effect was Naruto getting a huge nose bleed that propelled him into the wall. A start to what was sure to be a fabulous morning.

* * *

><p>"The shower is all yours," Yumi told him, now fortunately wearing the tattered black robe.<p>

Naruto grumbled and made his way to the bathroom, where he received another shock.

He didn't look like himself at all! _Wow, that surge of Kyuubi's chakra must have done this_, he thought, tracing the darker and more defined whiskers. His ears looked slightly more pointed, he had fangs now, his hair was a bit darker, his face more angular.

The most upsetting thing, however, were his eyes. They were reddish-purple now, slitted like Yumi's. _Screw you, Kyuubi._

Mentally flipping the Kyuubi off, Naruto showered and dressed, wondering about his future. What now?

He had no money, and no idea where he was and where he was going. That surely wasn't good. "And worst, I haven't had any ramen for like two days."

He stepped out of the small bathroom to find the bed made neatly and Yumi staring out the broken window. "Naruto, what are you going to do now?" Funny, he was just asking himself the same thing.

He scratched his head. "No idea! What about you?"

"I've always wanted to go to Kiri (Village Hidden in the Mist). You see, my family is from there and I've always wanted to visit my homeland."

"Oh. Why are you in Fire Country then?"

"I'll tell you on the road." She'd said it like she'd already made up her mind.

Naruto cocked his head. "What do you mean?"

Yumi chuckled at his cluelessness. "To Kiri, of course." Seeing his disbelieving look she continued. "It makes perfect sense. A) You're a criminal and have no where else to go B) should we part ways, it's unlikely I'll ever be able to repay that favor, and I detest owing people C) I'll make it worth your wile."

Naruto pondered this. Yes, those were good points, but was she just using him? Naruto was no longer naïve enough not to consider _that_ possibility.

However, it didn't seem likely, as he had little worth offering anyway. Besides, Yumi was way prettier than Sakura, whom Naruto hadn't thought about in days.

Why did he like Sakura, again? She was kind of pretty and book smart, but she belittled him and physically abused him. She probably needed him to feel superior to someone, yeah.

Wondering about one dream made him think of another. Why did he want to be Hokage, again? Oh yeah, to gain the respect and acknowledgment of the village.

Suddenly though, that didn't seem so appealing. He didn't have to gain the attention of that mass of ignorant people. Who cared what they thought?

Naruto gave her his best grin. "They do have ramen in Kiri, right?"

"The best!" He was immediately tackled, again having difficulty breathing on the floor. If anything, the adventure wouldn't be boring.

* * *

><p>The two had left the inn and were now traveling to their next destination. Yumi had picked up a map at the front desk, indicating they were on a small but untrodden dirt trail. "So, since we'll be a while, what's your story?" she asked curiously, having noticed the feral features similar to her own.<p>

Naruto gave an indifferent shrug, for some reason no longer being as enthused about life since having a giant shuriken tear through his chest. "It's not that special, Yumi-chan. I.. grew up as an orphan, was hated by pretty much the entire village, failed the genin exam three times, stole the Forbidden Scroll, had a giant shuriken nearly kill me by an psycho traitor, and finally became a criminal. Oh yeah, and I played lots of cool pranks and met the Kyuubi." That pretty much summed up his life.

"Met the Kyuubi?" she asked in eyebrow-raising alarm. "You've got to be joking. The only way that could happen is if–"

"I'm its host," Naruto replied for her.

Yumi gasped. "So you are the host. I had my suspicions, but what are the odds, meeting someone like me."

Naruto regarded her oddly. "I'm afraid I don't see what you mean."

"I'm a jinchuuriki too, if the slitted golden eyes hadn't already given it away." She'd said "jinchuuriki"

as if it were a common, everyday word.

Naruto scratched his head. "Jinchuuriki? What's that?"

"'Human sacrifice.' It's surprising you don't know."

Naruto only sighed. "I'm finding out my village never really told me anything," he said dejectedly. "Anyways, what demon are you cursed with then?"

"The Gobi (five-tails)," Yumi replied. "It grants me control over all five elements and a certain aptitude for genjutsu. You?"

Naruto blinked. "I don't know, really. My sensei always told me I had unusually high reserves."

There was an easy silence as they continued walking, Yumi confirming their course on the map. It really was a beautiful morning, with the peaceful sounds of the forest surrounding them, and were both were just digesting everything they knew about each other.

"Oh," Yumi said suddenly. "I promised you my story, didn't I?" Naruto nodded inquisitively. He'd been wondering why she was on that caravan.

"I was born in Kiri, but escaped with my mother during the Bloodline Wars. We traveled far away to Yukagakure (Village Hidden in Hot Water), a village that idealized peace at the time.

"My mother died due to an illness she sustained during the war when I was five though, leaving me with no known family. Before she died, my mother told me to one day become strong and travel to Kiri for the many answers I seek."

"Wow," Naruto said in amazement. "But what were you doing when I met you, then?"

"I was being sent off somewhere, sold as a slave for a hefty price in accordance with what I told you earlier." The sadness was evident in her voice.

"Oh." Naruto felt a bit bad for asking now. He jabbed her playfully on the shoulder.

"It's all good now though. You have me, Naruto Uzumaki, soon to be the strongest ninja of them all!" He stuck his chest out for added effect.

"You're right, Naruto-san. The past is the past, and we cannot let it cloud our perception of the future."

Naruto nodded. "Speaking of the future, how are we getting to Kiri?"

* * *

><p>"What! We have to run until early morning and then <em>hope<em> to catch a merchant's ship or something that can get us there in two weeks?"

"Hey," cast him a sly glance. "I never said The Plan was perfect or very economical, Blondie."

Naruto was silently fuming at the remark to his golden locks, but something else bothered him more. "Are you telling me you expect me to survive without ramen for that long?" he asked in exasperation.

"You like ramen?" Yumi inquired. "It's a decent side-dish, but what's really hard to deal with is living without dango."

Naruto suddenly dropped to his knees, kneeling in prayer. "Ramen Gods, forgive her. She knows not what she says."

"What?" Yumi asked innocently. "Dango is obviously superior, and if you weren't blinded by the tasteless traditions of soggy noodles, you'd agree too."

Naruto ran up and grabbed her by the shoulders, a wild look in his eyes. "I'd watch what you say to the Gods, Yumi-chan."

She merely pointed to the port town they were heading to. "I have a proposition for you then. Whoever reaches the port town Shōbara first has to buy the other their food of choice upon reaching Kiri."

Naruto did not have to be told twice, already running off. "You're on! Ramen Gods give me strength!"

* * *

><p>Hours into their race, approaching midday now, Naruto and Yumi sped to their destination at full speed. Yumi had a clear advantage being able to jump from tree-to-tree while Naruto was forced to sprint on the ground. Yumi slowed down considerably after a while though, just about evening the playing field.<p>

Also important to consider is that neither had eaten anything since their light and hasty breakfast at the inn, and were as a result becoming fatigued. Yumi in particular was beginning to have a difficult time.

"Dizzy. Feel like I'm going to faint," Yumi said as she hugged the base of the tree she was on for support. "Naruto-san, I concede in our waiver."

Naruto stopped at the trunk, but instead of celebrating a free meal watched her with concern. "You okay?"

Yumi shook her head slowly, forehead resting on the trunk. "No. I am still too weak to travel another half-day. You should really leave without me and just let me catch up later." After some rest and maybe something to eat Yumi was sure she'd be able to catch up, even with her unremarkable stamina.

"Nonsense," Naruto replied. "I'll just carry you there if you're too tired."

Yumi's mind, barely clinging to consciousness, took that as a signal to sleep. A seemingly magnetic force pulled her backwards, where she descended from the creaky tree branch.

Fortunately, the force had pushed her in Naurto's direction. Catching her easily, Naruto gave a small smile at how serene she looked. With the wind blowing through her long, lustrous silver hair, enveloping Naruto in the calming scent of lavender, and her mouth slightly open, she looked much different from the Yumi he'd begun to know.

"Wait, what's that?" The wind also had exposed a part of her shoulder. It had a strange sort of marking that Naruto swore he was familiar with.

Shaking his head to dispel those thoughts, Naruto began his journey towards Shōbara, reveling in how nice Yumi felt in his arms. Time was of the essence, and while Naruto wasn't sure what his future held, he definitely didn't want to miss out on anything because he wasted too much time.

* * *

><p><strong>It's short, but the next chapter will be long enough to redeem it. Thank you to everyone who has been gracious enough to provide feedback.<strong>


	3. Chapter III

Chapter III

Naruto had been running for over 12 hours now, and was definitely starting to feel the pain. His legs felt like they would collapse soon if he didn't take a break. He pushed on though, knowing how much the unconscious girl he was carrying desired to get to Kiri.

It was amazing, actually. Naruto, despite the soreness in his legs and his immense hunger, was still feeling decent energy-wise. It was probably just the added amount of the Kyuubi's chakra in his system, but Naruto liked to think it was his will that got him this far.

Lost in thought, he barely noticed the abrupt change in scenery. From the high woodland where he was, there was a steep drop to what looked like.. a town?

At the edge of the forest clearing, Naruto grinned excitedly. Yumi must have sensed his excitement while unconscious, stirring as he still carried her bridal-style. Shifting slightly, she looked up at him with inquiring golden eyes.

"Have we stopped because we're lost or have we stopped as a result of reaching our destination?"

"Can't you tell by my grin we've arrived?" Yumi craned her neck to look in the direction Naruto was, blaming her inaccurate perception on post-sleep grogginess.

"Wow," Yumi breathed in awe. "I must admit that I underestimated your intelligence, then. Genin exam failure or not, it seems you're competent enough to read a map."

Naruto's excited grin quickly changed to a guilty one. "Well, to be honest, Yumi-chan, I didn't look at the map at all."

Instead of being upset like he expected, she regarded him only with amusement. "I'm delighted that you did, actually." Yumi smiled faintly upon seeing his look of confusion, vanishing from where Naruto held her and appearing behind him.

"By relying on your instinct alone, you actually found a shortcut," she whispered hotly in his ear. "Which of course leaves time for–"

Naruto felt flushed as the silver-haired girl traced patterns that had started on his chest but were gradually moving lower. He felt immense disappointment when she suddenly moved away.

"Food!" Naruto's face fell at the declaration, silently berating himself for thinking perverted thoughts. "Neither of us have eaten for nearly a day, and the unexpected convenience of your shortcut will allow us more time to have our fill.

"Unless, of course, you have other thoughts of what we could do?" Yumi asked lowly.

The hot and bothered blond only shook his head meekly, making Yumi smirk.

Grabbing his arm, Yumi pulled Naruto in the direction of Shōbara. "Then let's get going!"

xxx

After running down the steep and rather dense forest slope leading to the port town, Yumi and Naruto passed a cemetery before coming to a complete stop.

"What are we doing, again?" Naruto asked.

Yumi looked contemplative, apparently a bit caught up in the moment. "We'll have to steal some food if we don't want me to pass out again." This wasn't the real reason, but the troubled jinchuuriki wasn't ready to reveal that yet.

Naruto looked at her in what could best be described as horror. "Steal, Yumi-chan?"

"We can pay them back with interest later," she told him impatiently.

"But stealing is–"

"Better than having me faint again due to a lack of energy," Yumi completed.

"Fine, but only if we go back and repay them with interest someday," Naruto acquiesced. He suddenly furrowed his brow, looking straight ahead. "Yumi-chan, I don't see any ships docked."

Indeed, there were no ships in the town's harbor, making their voyage look impossible now. Fortunately, Yumi had expected this and developed a brilliant plan.

"If there are no vessels we can board and pose on bodyguards on, we'll simply have to build one," she said simply.

"You want to _build_ a ship to get to Kiri?" Naruto asked in exasperation. "We could just wait for some to show up and then leave."

Yumi scowled at the prospect. "We could be waiting too long, for weeks even, and it force us to steal more food." Satisfied with this conclusion, she sprinted off towards the assortment of shops making up Shōbara.

Sighing, Naruto went after her. He caught up with her as they surveyed the town up-close, following her gaze down a street that continued straight down to the harbor and a street that branched off to the left. Both were lined by old, decrepit establishments made of dark wood. Naruto couldn't help but think that the view looked so much better from their previous apex above in the forest.

The streets were not well-lit, even taking into consideration it was past midnight, and without the moon to illuminate them the small town would be pitch black. Even in the darkness though it was obvious Shōbara was poorly maintained; trash consisting mostly of empty alcohol bottles and cigarettes decorated the paths ahead.

"This place reeks so badly it's difficult to discern where the food is," Yumi commented, sniffing the air. The blond jinchuuriki beside her was inclined to agree – with his sense of smell also being enhanced, the place was not at all preferable to the crisp, wonderful air of the forest.

Yumi took off down the road to the left with a sense of urgency, Naruto following closely behind. They stopped at the third place down, a place that flew the banner "Tai's Bar and Club."

Yumi wasted no time, quickly knocking the door down with a kick and entering the bar. Jumping over the counter, she swerved to the right and into what was presumably the chef's room. Naruto entered a second later, already finding Yumi munching on a carrot.

Unlike the rest of the bar, which was dark and had no real noteworthy attributes, the kitchen was a different story. Someone had decided to paint the walls white in what could only be assumed was an attempt to make the room look sterile. The plan had backfired, however, sufficiently evidenced by the walls being stained by years of tobacco smoke and the floor tiles chipping away to leave dirt trails behind.

The counter tops however, illuminated only by the moon shining through the window, looked relatively clean. Various ingredients and instruments were carelessly lying around, as if no one had bothered to clean up the night before. Probably the night before that, too.

"Here, you'll need the energy," Yumi said as she tossed Naruto a burlap bag of apples. Nodding hesitantly, he reached into the bag and took out a red delicious. Taking most of it in one bite, his stomach rumbled loudly, voicing its satisfaction at finally being fed.

"Thanks, but how are we going to build a ship?" Naruto asked in-between bites.

"A lot of clones and a lot of noise," was his companion's nonchalant reply. Yumi had found a large wooden crate in the corner of the room and was currently putting small amounts of various things in there, including sake bottles.

Yumi almost laughed at Naruto's apparent unease about taking alcohol with them. "We'll need something to drink at sea, and as jinchuuriki it'll have little effect on us anyway," she explained.

"Aren't we too young to . . oh, never mind," Naruto mumbled. His world view was truly beginning to change. Reaching for another apple, the Konoha rogue discovered that there were only a few left – he must have been hungrier than he'd first thought.

Yumi finished off a bottle of sake in one gulp and placed the wooden crate they'd be taking onto the counter.

"Wait here," the five-tails jinchuuriki said as she brushed past him. Naruto only yawned tiredly in response as he placed the nearly-empty burlap bag into the crate. Leaning against the wall, he began to seriously consider what he'd gotten himself into.

Stealing and breaking into a bar weren't things he was comfortable with. Yumi, the silver-haired girl who was still a mystery to him, showed no remorse whatsoever. He wanted to judge her negatively for that, but again, he still didn't know her very well. There was always feeling he was missing a large piece of the puzzle with her.

Speaking of Yumi, she walked back into the room again, now wearing a black uniform with the clubs name emblazoned on her chest. Despite the striking contrast of her pale skin and silver hair to black work clothes, Naruto hardly registered her reentering until she spoke.

"We're leaving now, Naruto-kun." The blond, formerly lost in thought, tuned back in and looked up.

"Yeah. What now?" he asked as he accompanied her out the door.

Yumi merely tilted her head to the right. "There are a few more things we need."

Naruto walked with her as they went to the adjacent establishment, this one looking like it sold equipment for the many fisherman it could be assumed partook in the particular occupation in this town.

_I feel useless_, Naruto thought as he continued to follow the girl whose agenda was still not clear to him. Opening his mouth to ask what he could do, he sighed as Yumi had already kicked down the door and ducked inside.

Walking inside, the shop was much bigger than it appeared. Rows and rows of shelves were stocked with everything from fishing equipment to tools used to repair boats. Hanging on the wall were various big fish, further accentuating the place decorated with an ocean theme.

"Grab some rope while you're over there," Yumi said as she continued to fill the wooden crate with various materials. Naruto complied, happy to be of use but still feeling apprehensive about takings things that didn't belong to him.

As the ramen deprived teen was making his way to the back where he'd spotted the rope, he heard something outside.

"Hey, punks! Get yo' ass out here so I can show ya what we do to thieves in Shōbara," a gruff voice said from the doorway.

Yumi snorted behind a shelf of fishing nets. "Try it, tough guy."

There was strange giggling in response to that. "Oh, it's a lady, man," a goofier voice supplied.

The first man huffed audibly. "I don't give a fuck if it's a shemale, bitchtits. A thief is a thief."

A low, ominous grumbling could be heard after that remark. Through the silence, Naruto saw the second man "bitchtits," grow deathly still.

"What did you say?" he asked in a dangerously low voice.

"Bitchtits," the smart ass said slowly, with an intonation commonly associated with talking to people of limited mental capacity.

"You better watch it, man! I'll shove me foot so far up you ass . ."

He stopped suddenly and gave a silent scream before collapsing. The smart ass who would have probably gotten crushed promptly did the same, muttering something about "demon bitches."

Naruto was actually about to yell out and ask if they were all right when he was pulled into a familiar embrace. Yumi put a finger to his lips, whispering in his ear.

"Don't." Yumi looked at him coolly, magnetic gaze threatening two pull him off to wherever the first to citizens went.

It took every ounce of free will Naruto possessed, but he broke free from Yumi's mesmerizing golden eyes. The shorter jinchuuriki shook himself after removing himself from her hold.

"Anything else we need?" Naruto asked wearily.

"No. This is where the real fun begins." Yumi picked up the nearly-full crate and stepped into the street.

_And if I see if you have the potential to combat my power_, Yumi thought seriously.

Naruto followed confusedly as they headed into the woods, not even asking why the two jackasses from before were now walking around like they were possessed.

**I lied. Next time, then. **


	4. Chapter IV

Chapter IV

Yumi took them out to the densely wooded slope a fair distance from where they'd come down it earlier. The jinchuriki duo continued walking until reaching a clearing next to a fast moving river flowing into the ocean. Yumi set the crate down and sat on it, looking at Naruto apologetically.

"There are a few things I haven't told you yet, Naruto," she said in disappointment. "Give me some time and I'll tell you my full story, okay?"

"Okay," Naruto replied slowly. Anything to shed some light on her strange behavior.

"Thank you." Rapidly making hand signs, she slammed her hands into ground, revealing a moderate size puff of smoke hiding something. It was gone as quickly as it had appeared, with Yumi now holding a katana in a long silver sheath.

"This is the plan, so listen closely. I'm going to take out all the trees in the surrounding area, then you're going to start bringing them back here. I'll then use wind jutsu to cut the stock while the clones start creating the hull."

Naruto blinked. "That actually doesn't sound so hard when you break it down like that."

Yumi nodded, standing up to stretch. "Stand back."

The other jinchuuriki stood tentatively behind her as she breathed slowly and prepared to execute her jutsu. In a flash of silver light Yumi unsheathed her katana and swung it in a horizontal arc. This resulted in a concentrated force of wind that downed a large section of the forest nearby.

"Kami, Yumi-chan!" Naruto laughed. "Remind me to never get on your bad side."

Yumi chuckled. "Of course. We need about 1000 clones if you want to keep me happy."

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

_The sheer volume of chakra capacity Naruto posseses is amazing_, Yumi thought. _Even without my affliction I'm not sure I could go higher than 800._

Clones filled the clearing and then some, all of which carrying so much enthusiasm that the five-tails jinchuuriki couldn't help but revel in it.

"Let's build us a ship!" Yumi exclaimed. The crowd of Narutos' roared back, probably waking everyone in Shobara up

xxx

Yumi immediately set the Naruto clones to work, having them saw off the parts of tree they'd be using for lumber. As for the real Naruto, the mastermind behind Operation Get to Kiri had arranged for him to come with her and discuss further planning.

"We're going to make the ship have three masts and an upper deck, nothing too complicated. All we really need is a large and compact vessel, so some normal things may need to be taken out." Yumi drew on the soil with a stick, roughly outlining her idea.

"Normal things? Like that?"

Yumi shrugged. "We're not going to bother with an anchor. The place below deck will also be unspectacular."

"Steering wheel? Navigation?"

"Both under control."

"What - what about a name?"

That made Yumi pause. "Hmm. We'll think on that one."

Yumi twirled the stick and stuck it into the ground, slowly doing hand signs. "I'm going to create the keel and other things. You can go make sure your clones are doing everything correctly."

Naruto nodded. This may work after all.

xxx

Yumi had carefully used wind jutsu to shape the keel, ribs and three masts, wanting them to be as precise as possible. Finishing that and seeing that the Narutos still had some more work to do, Yumi moved on to a phase of her plan that was beginning to worry her.

That part of her plan was how they were going to get the ship into the ocean. Sure, she had many ideas, but finding the most economical one that required the least chakra expenditure would be challenging.

"Damn." Yumi twirled her hair in thought, a habit she'd had since being a child. "Well, there is always one thing I can start with."

Yumi clapped her hands together. "Earth Style: Fissure!"

The ground on either side of the river Yumi was standing by diverged, leaving more than enough depth and width to let their ship go into the sea.

The girl was breathing more heavily by the end of the jutsu, earth chakra being something she was not well-versed in. Rubbing her temples, she acted calm as Naruto jogged over in concern.

"What's going on? You all right?"

"Fine. You done getting the wood for the hull?"

"Yeah." Naruto suddenly grinned. "I have an idea." He rubbed his hands together excitedly seeing her receptive posture.

"Well, one of the few days in the academy I was actually paying attention, I saw a lesson on the old shinobi settlers. They had big ships with paddles sticking out through holes in the side to make go faster. Think we could do that?"

Yumi visualized that, the idea never occurring to her. "Of course. I'll make the oars and later the clones can man them."

Naruto nodded in giddy anticipation. "All right, you go do that real fast while I have the clones gather the stuff we'll be using."

Something was bothering Naruto though, so he stood there uneasily as Yumi walked away. "Yumi-chan, you think the noise of all the trees collapsing will wake anyone in Shobara up? There is a pretty big echo."

Yumi turned and gave him a sly look. "Bitchtits and his ass of a friend have that all under control."

xxx

Yumi used wind jutsu to cut down a group of another half dozen or so trees, after which she carefully shaped to resemble long, ornate oars. There were 50 in all, just enough to fit her general vision. (The "shaping" was primarily done by Yumi using small blades of wind, significantly faster and more accurate than using a saw.)

She made finishing touches on the three masts, all of which Yumi had selected especially thick trees for. It was a style reminiscent of the later-day shinobi pirate ships - the silver-haired ninja had ideas for that also, but it could wait until later.

Naruto arrived on the scene not far from their unofficial base of operations in the forest clearing, apparently having heard the trees collapsing. "Everything you asked us to build is there. I'll have some clones carry the oars up then, too."

"Okay," Yumi said as she finished crafting. Now all the materials were ready; it was time to build.

xxx

Yumi carefully lay the keel and ribs on the mud slipway she'd made, which would send their ship sideways into the expanded river when ready. Next, she had had the Narutos overlap the planks and hold them together by hammering in rivets, a process that, even with near 1000 clones, took quite a while. After that she'd set the large three masts, the middle one being the largest and the last one being the smallest. In lieu of Naruto's idea, she only used square sails, two per mast. The one on the largest mast was the most massive, the other five being not as spectacular but still pretty big. Yumi had also had knocked holes in the sides for the oars, but since they didn't have the luxury of time to make a bench, they just uprooted tree stumps, cleaned them off in the river and decided to use those for seats. Not the greatest, but their build would suffice.

It would more than suffice, actually. Naruto's great idea may save them a lot of time when coupled with one of her own. _That will be good, _she thought.

As for sleeping quarters and steering, the Naruto clones had arranged for a hatch on the upper deck that would lead down to a small enclosure where they could store supplies and escape the cold of the night. Steering was left to a large paddle tied to the hull. In all, preparations were nearly complete.

xxx

Sarutobi Hiruzen sat at his desk, definitely feeling his age as he anxiously awaited news on Mizuki. Letting the Forbidden Scroll get out would be a catastrophe, not only for his political career but also, more importantly, the stability of the world. Though, if he lost his position as Hokage to Danzo, that would dramatically alter the balance of the shinobi nations as well.

The by-all-means ancient Kage sensed chakra signatures approaching, and busied himself pretending to look over documents accumulated on his desk in the last few days. Many of them were by the civilian council, who he honestly wanted to arrange for a horrible accident to occur by way of Naruto prank. That might not be possible now, rather disappointingly.

A lone figure decked out in black wearing an ANBU mask for the tiger appeared before him in a kneeling position. "Hokage-sama, we have news in the escape of Mizuki," the ANBU chief reported.

"Thank you, Tiger-kun. If you would be so kind."

"Hai. The ANBU team sent to track Mizuki has just reported that they've failed. Mizuki disappeared somewhere in southern Rice Country, leaving the trail on him stone cold."

_Rice Country?_ Saru thought uneasily. I_ have a feeling a certain snake is somehow involved in this, knowing his lust for jutsu._

The ANBU saw his leader's far-away look and cleared his throat to regain attention. "There is one more thing, Sarutobi-sama. The body of Iruka Umino has been found on academy grounds, analysis revealing the cause of death to be Mizuki slitting his throat. Further analysis also reveals that Dolphin-san had a cocktail of drugs in his system used to give the victim feelings of confusion, lethargy, and paralysis."

Sarutobi for his part kept a straight face, but inside he was frowning deeply. While death should not affect him in this way, Iruka had always been close to the old Hokage, much like Naruto. To see him gone saddened the grandfather-figure greatly and strengthened his resolve to serve justice.

"I see. Continue searching for Mizuki, and if no clues are found start investigating deeper into Rice Country."

"Hai, Hokage-sama." The ANBU sunk into the floor, leaving a weary old leader to rub his temples and sigh.

"Naruto, I hope I haven't failed you too." He paused, really thinking that over. "If I have, then I fear for the future of ninja as we know it."

xxx

In a dark lair miles below the surface, a pale, snake-like man with long black hair cackled victoriously.

"Well done, Mizuki-kun," he praised the criminal from Konoha, seated on his throne.

Mizuki scowled a bit. "Yeah, Otokage-sama, but where's my reward?"

"All in good time my valuable spy," the Sannin chided. Suddenly though his eyes flashed hatred that sent a chill down Mizuki's spine. "Leave at once. I shall fulfill your desire tomorrow."

Mizuki full-out scowled and thought of protesting, but decided that wouldn't be wise. Figuring, sickly appearance or not, Orochimaru was still a Kage level ninja and could kick some serious ass when pissed.

Orochimaru's laughter filled the dimly-lit room once his underling had left. He grabbed the Forbidden Scroll and cradled it back and forth in his arms lovingly, looking frankly like he was going to jizz in his pants.

"Excellent work, my foolish but reliable pawn. With this scroll, I can proceed one step closer to learning all the jutsu in the world and destroying Konoha!"

xxx

Back with the jinchuuriki duo, things were going smoothly. The ship was just about finished and they would be off shortly.

"What are we going to name her?" Naruto asked casually while tightening the ropes on the sails.

Yumi blinked at the sudden realization. "I actually haven't given much thought to that." She finished connecting the paddle steering mechanism and paused to look out over the ocean.

"_The Breeze," _she finally concluded.

"Awesome!" Naruto grinned. "Then let's set sail with _The Breeze_! Clones!"

Yumi felt the excitement in the air as she admired their ship once more while the Narutos obeyed the final order to push off. It was large and decently equipped, with features including: 50 oar slots, three masts flying huge square sails, six in total, and an area below deck where they could store supplies and sleep. All in all, it would surely get them to Kiri intact.

The clones pushed off the decline mud slipway, letting their ship enter the waters of the downwards-flowing river that Yumi had widened in accordance with their venture.

_The Breeze_ drifted easily into the ocean, making a good-sized splash as it went the final downward twist. Rocking slightly, Yumi checked the wind and steered their vessel in the northwest direction of the Village Hidden in the Mist.

She was surprised to find out how maneuverable _The Breeze_ actually was as it adjusted left quite smoothly. Naruto truly had some good ideas – to use the style of the old ninja vikings, who were able to travel quickly and accurately even without wind, was brilliant. That reminded of her something . . .

But Naruto, trying in vain to climb the main mast (he was hugging it and trying to inch his way upward, amusingly enough) beat Yumi to it. "Clones! Row us to Kiri!"

"Yeah!" On that count the Naruto clones started rowing, but they were all doing it at different times, something that was actually starting to turn them around.

"Wait, stop!" The clones did as instructed, looking at Naruto sheepishly. "Go in time with each other. Like count off, one-two, row, one-two, row."

Yumi watched the exchange in amusement while trying to steer them back on track. She walked toward Naruto, smiling at the display of teamwork.

"Well done, Naruto-kun. If we keep this pace, we may make it in only a week and a half."

"How do we navigate though?" Naruto asked, trying again to crawl up. He frowned as he only succeeded in sliding down.

"That's easy." Yumi walked up the mast easily, smirking at Naruto's look of jealousy. "Measuring the latitude is done by culmination, the longitude measured by using lunar distance and a nautical almanac."

"Oh." He'd leave the apparently complex navigation part to her then. Getting up, he devised a new strategy for getting to the crow's nest he so desired to sit in. "Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

The clones appeared while Naruto grabbed some spare rope. Since he couldn't walk right up the main mast like Yumi, who was currently grinning at him from the great view, he needed to improvise.

He had one clone launch the other one high onto the mast with the rope. While up there, the clone tied the rope to a point as high as it could before dispelling, letting the end of the rope fall down into Naruto's hands.

He took the rope and wrapped it around his hand, climbing up the mast with little effort. He stuck his tongue out at Yumi while nearing the top, though the look he got in response to that frightened him.

Yumi cut the rope, sending him flying back down. Fortunately, the other Naruto clone caught him, but Naruto was still upset. "What was that for?"

Yumi wagged a finger at him. "You need to learn how to walk up structures and how to walk on water. There's no sense in letting you cheat; if you want the magnificent view from up here, you'll have to work for it."

Naruto pouted, but was enthused at the prospect of learning something new. "All right then, Yumi-chan. Where do we start?"

The girl startled him by placing a hand on his shoulder, where he deduced the version of her dissolving dissolving into water was a water clone. "We? You'll be doing this mostly on your own."

That might not be so good.

xxx

And indeed, some time later, it wasn't so good. Yumi had him practice balancing kunai he had on his fingertips using chakra. Naruto, with his worse-than-ever chakra control, could barely keep them on for ten seconds.

Just as he was about to fling the kunai into the ocean in frustration, however, Yumi emerged from below the deck. She'd been sleeping, and yawned groggily while idly twirling her hair.

"Make any progress yet?"

The kunai on his fingertips fell off just then, causing Naruto to pound the deck in frustration. "Why can't I get this fucking simple exercise?"

"Calm down," Yumi chided. "There is an easier way to do this for you."

"Yeah, and what's that?" Yumi noted the anger in his voice with some concern. That needed looking into.

Yumi sighed and began blazing through hand signs. "Ice Style: Frozen Wasteland." The water a ways out from the ship froze, leaving a glistening area larger than the ship itself.

"I'm sure you're aware by now that you receive the memories when your clones expel," she started.

"Yeah, sometimes," Naruto agreed.

"Then by having them each practice on their own, you can get hundreds of hours of experience."

It took Naruto a second to realize the genius of this. "Huh! You're amazing, Yumi-chan! I wish I would've thought of that earlier."

"I was going to try to ingrain more of the value of hard work, but I decided that that could take too long. You really need to learn how to water walk in case of an accident."

"And this lets me build up to that by focusing on chakra control?" Naruto asked.

Yumi nodded. "Yes."

"Okay, then. Here goes something."

xxx

Hours later, Naruto still felt like he wasn't making much of any progress. He'd gotten bored at some point and just tried to walk on water, but that had failed miserably.

"Dismiss those clones now," Yumi advised, sensing his growing displeasure.

Naruto grinned excitedly and released all 100 of his clones sent to do the kunai exercise, subsequently blacking out. Yumi put down the sextant she was using and ran over to where Naruto had collapsed on the deck.

After checking his vitals, which indicated that his pulse was active if slightly elevated, the Gobi jinchuuriki let out a breath of relief. "Baka. There's a reason it's a forbidden jutsu."

The blond came to just then. "What? Oww, my head hurts."

"You absorbed too many memories from your clones," Yumi explained. "You should have dismissed smaller numbers of clones at different times."

"Oh."Jumping up, Naruto didn't let a minor headache quell his determination. Picking up four kunai, he discovered he could balance them extremely easily, even with the wind blowing.

"Yeah! Bet you guys can't do that, huh?" Naruto taunted his own clones forced to do the agonizing job of rowing the ship, effectively talking to himself.

"Sasuke-sama could do it way better," the clones replied in an impressive comeback, one that earned roaring laughter. Wonder how Sasuke was doing, anyway?

"Sasuke was my rival," Naruto clarified upon seeing Yumi's confused look. "Becoming stronger than him is one of my life goals."

"Ahh. You may surpass him him with better chakra control, then." Yumi knocked on the mast. "Try concentrating chakra into the bottom of your feet and walking up. This is the same as water walking, but is a little easier because water is a fluid surface and thus is harder to maintain balance on."

"Hai, Yumi-sensei." Walking over to the mast, he concentrated an even amount of chakra into his feet and took a deep breath before trying to walk up the mast.

He stuck for a second before slipping off, though fortunately Yumi was able to catch him, rubbing her breasts against his back.

"Come on, Naruto-kun," she whispered enticingly in his ear.

That was the final ounce of motivation he needed, and he quickly scaled the mast to the crow's nest like he'd been doing it for years.

"Yatta! What a view!"

"A very fine job again," Yumi said from behind him, nearly making Naruto fall off. "I wonder how well you'll do water walking."

Naruto smirked. "Better than the teme would. Watch this." Naruto jumped down from the crow's nest and over the side of the ship, now standing uneasily on the water.

It didn't last, though. A clone throwing a kunai toward him disrupted his chakra flow and caused him to sink into the ocean.

"Damnit!" he said as he broke above the surface, barely noticing the shock wave his expression of emotion had produced. Without thinking, Naruto actually climbed on top of the water and ran over the surface to reprimand his devious double.

He realized what he was doing after successfully climbing the ship's starboard side and leaping onto the deck. As soon as he he did the clone hit itself hard in the abdomen, making itself dispel and leaving Naruto with an unpleasant sensation of having the wind knocked out of him.

Exhaling slowly to calm himself down, Naruto made another clone and reflected on what he'd just done. Avoided being killed by one of his own clone's kunai, that was for sure, but after that.

He'd run across the water.

"Hell yeah!" Naruto fist pumped in triumph.

"You're dealing with a water-walking, rogue badass ninja now."

Just then Yumi emerged from below deck – how she got there from her previous point on the crow's nest without Naruto noticing was a mystery – carrying one of the wooden crates they now had a healthy abundance of thanks to the awesome _Shadow Clone Jutsu_. The prodigous user of the forbidden jutsu's stomach grumbled loudly at the end of his diatribe, making Yumi smirk.

"Not so badass that doing such a simple exercise doesn't make you hungry," the girl quipped. "Banter aside though, let's eat."

xxx

Yumi had been too lazy and hungry to set up the fishing nets, so they simply ate their ample supply of fruits and vegetables, something Naruto was not very keen on besides apples or carrots. Carrot as they're orange of course, though he didn't realize his appreciative taste of apples.

Neither had said much during their lunch, as Naruto did not want to disturb Yumi, who was currently writing complicated things down on the back of their produce container. He'd asked her what it was, only to find out that pretty much didn't answer his question. The Gobi jinchuuriki was doing something involving trigonometry and charts, something completely foreign to him.

After finishing sketching an angle or two, consulting an almanac and map, she explained what it was in layman's terms.

"It's navigation, Naruto-kun."

"That's amazing, you know," Naruto blurted out. He stroked his chin in afterthought, something becoming an unusually frequent occurrence. He managed to miss Yumi's very faint blush.

_Yumi seems so much smarter than Sakura,_ Naruto thought. _She actually has real world knowledge,_ _not_ _just silly book smarts._

"You.. impress me as well." It came out with the familiarity of one usually too proud to to properly compliments, but Naruto didn't seem mind. He grinned brightly at her, making Yumi imagine the irony of being with someone about as socially inept as her.

**Even the trustworthy cannot be trusted,** a dark voice muttered. **Eliminate the risk or the risk will** **eliminate you.**

Yumi didn't care though, ignoring the voice. She quickly instructed the Naruto clones to alter the course slightly westward, then appearing behind Naruto and hugging him from behind.

"I'm tired, Naruto-kun," she pouted. The blond in question was beginning to notice a pattern here – she was always up to something when she acted like this. His silent affirmation made Yumi's eyes light up, nonetheless.

"You will be my pillow in exchange for tutelage, then."

xxx

Naruto and Yumi slept for most of the remainder of the afternoon, being pleasantly warmed by the midday sun, Yumi using her favorite pillow to rest on.

It was kind of nice, really. Yumi had said that their former life, utterly devoid of human contact, was something she planned on making up on. And while the sensation of being physically close to someone was foreign to Naruto, it was definitely not without benefits. Yumi had promised him training, something he was ecstatic about having, never having much of a real instructor before.

He lay flat on his back while Yumi rested her head on his chest, arms wrapped around him. He hadn't been sleeping much, too excited about the prospect of training and not really tired enough to doze off. Lounging really, focusing on little more than the sun's rays warming him and the girl beside him snoring softly.

Unfortunately though, this resulted in him missing something important happening nearby. Lazily he opened an eye to check his surroundings, the eye going wide when he realized his fears were confirmed.

The clones Naruto had set to row the ship were not doing their jobs anymore.

Some were snoring, other just looked dead-beat knocked out. Add that to the fact that the wind was barely blowing anymore and they had a problem.

Naruto shifted slightly in his attempt to get up quietly, but this proved impossible. Yumi's hold on him grew tighter, nuzzling his shoulder affectionately. This would not be easy, then.

Or maybe it would. Doing a quick substitution with a sleeping clone, he found himself free of Yumi's hold. The sleeping beauty did not seem to notice, only nuzzling his shoulder again.

Dismissing the other clones, Naruto pondered their memories. A particularly sly clone had counseled the rest that they should take a nap like their original; this happened a while after the two jinchuuriki had decided to sleep, thankfully. Still, they had lost some mileage and the blond worried about making Yumi upset.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu," he said quietly. A brigade of 50 fresh clones appeared, and Naruto wordlessly ordered them to begin rowing again.

_Now, what can I do to speed things up?_ How did one speed up something as big as _The Breeze_? Nothing really came to mind.

"Sasuke! Get back here, you arrogant ramen stealing asshole!" The clone Naruto had switched with acted out part of its dream, interrupting the original's train of thought and probably waking Yumi up.

"Calm down," Yumi mumbled. Sniffing the air, she rolled over and twisted the clone's arm, making it go away in a puff of smoke.

"I want the real one." Yumi sat up and stretched, covering her mouth to yawn. "Why did you switch out?"

"Well, uhh." Naruto scratched the back of his head uneasily. "The clones decided to take a nap a while ago too and there was no wind."

Yumi shrugged. "Not a big deal at all." And in fact it wasn't. Sleeping with Naruto was very rejuvenating – there was just a positive quality to his chakra that put her mind at ease.

Yumi smiled upon seeing his furrowed brow. "The whole reason we made this with three masts instead of one like you wanted is so that the ship could carry more sails, thus making better use of the wind. I have enough chakra now that I can manipulate this supply of wind, meaning there's no reason to fret."

Naruto blinked. "Awesome! I wish I could do cool jutsu like that."

"You can, in theory. It really depends on what your affinity is."

"Affinity?"

"Natural prowess for a certain element. If you'd payed any attention at your academy you'd know that the Five Great Hidden Villages all have an element most common there. For example: Kiri corresponds to water, Iwa to earth, Kumo to lightning, Suna to wind, and Konoha to fire."

"So I'm fire natured?"

Yumi shrugged. "It's likely, but for some reason I don't think so. You're blond, something extremely rare in Konoha, so it's very possible that you have a different affinity."

"But how do we find out?"

Yumi twirled her hair in thought. "I have an idea, but I want to get to _The Breeze_, aptly named as it is, back on track first."

Yumi made multiples hand seals, making the wind around them start to pick up, lifting Yumi's long hair into the air as she closed her eyes and took a deep breath.

"Wind Style: Great Breakthrough." The wind suddenly picked up speed drastically, forcing Naruto to grab onto the ledge to avoid being pushed back.

Yumi poured more chakra into the jutsu, so much that the ship was now moving four to five times faster as it was previously, which was considerably decent speed.

In mere seconds however, the Gobi jinchuuriki began to sweat, breathing more heavily as she gradually toned the jutsu down. They'd be able to go off the momentum for a while though, fortunately.

"Teach me, Yumi-sensei?" Naruto asked, practically jumping up and down.

"I don't know what chakra nature you are," Yumi replied. "There is a way I think we can find out, however."


	5. Chapter V

Chapter V

Yumi went on to explain to Naruto that there is usually a special type of paper used to discern chakra types, one usually made of a special and uncommon tree. Yumi did of course not have any of this paper, which is why she'd resorted to more experimental means.

"Concentrate and perform the jutsu," Yumi demanded to a sweating Naruto. She'd explained how chakra affinities were mostly genetic, meaning that with Naruto's unmistakably golden blond hair, that it pretty much narrowed their options down to three villages.

The idea Yumi had was to have Naruto perform very basic techniques in the chosen element and have her use her judgement in deciding if he had any natural inclination for it.

Feeling the weak pulse of energy Naruto gave off, she shook her head.

"You're not lightning natured either. We'll move to wind next." They'd started with fire, the native element of his home village of Konoha, then moving to Kumo, whose native element is predominantly lightning and had a fairly high number of blonds. Suna was next on the list, their common element being wind, as they too had a fair number of blonds.

"Do the technique I did earlier." Yumi showed him the hand signs again.

Naruto performed the jutsu, or tried to anyway, as Yumi tried to sense if there was any difference in the breeze or a certain pulse his chakra gave off.

Turns out, there was. Well, Yumi could not detect any significant change in the air, but Naruto's chakra seemed to flow just a tad bit smoother when doing the wind technique. Granted, it was far from having a grasp of wind jutsu, but it was definitely something to start with.

"You're a wind type," Yumi determined.

Naruto looked up from what he was doing and expressed joy. "Wind, that's awesome. Right?"

She shrugged. "They're all good; it's how you use them that makes them awesome. Wind is rare though, and is also suited more to short to medium range attacks."

"Oh," Naruto replied hesitantly. "Teach me then, Yumi-sensei. If you want we can exchange jutsu – I'll show you shadow clones for wind techniques."

Yumi looked off blankly. "I don't have the chakra capacity for that, Naruto. I'd be more than happy, however, to help you learn some elemental jutsu." _It will be part of what I owe you._

"That is," she whispered holding him from behind, doing her uncanny thing of vanishing and appearing behind him. "If you'll help me scratch an itch. Kay, Naru-kun?"

xxx

After agreeing to Yumi's.. compromise, they were ready to start on the wind training. Vanishing, this time thankfully not behind Naruto and making him both want to go pale from shock and red from arousal, but normally. Yumi appeared not far from Naruto near the stern. Picking up one of the leaves her shunshin had produced, she held it out flat in the palm of her hand of her hand.

"To start, you must first cut this leaf using wind chakra. It came very easily to me, but you may have to work at it more." She paused, never have instructed someone before. "I suppose it might help to focus on a sharp, strong breeze of wind in your mind."

"All right, here goes." Naruto looked at the leaf intensely and willed it to split in half, but to his displeasure nothing happened.

He sighed, but immediately remembered what he'd done before to learn better chakra control.

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!"

Approximately 70 more clones appeared on the ship, each holding leaves in their palms.

"Cut that leaf!" Naruto demanded.

His throat was starting to get dry from not drinking for so long. They didn't have any water, though. Or did they?

"We can't drink ocean water, can we?" he asked.

"No. The concentration of salt is too high."

Naruto groaned, remembering something else with a high amount of sodium. "I want ramen . . ."

xxx

While the clones did all the heavy work for him, Naruto decided upon having something to eat with Yumi. She made a surprisingly mean dish of curry, one good enough that he'd rate it as his second favorite thing to eat now.

"You're a great cook, Yumi-chan."

"Thank you. But don't think any flattery will get you out of the brutal training regimen I have planned." There was a certain gleam in her eye that made Naruto worry.

"Training? I thought that's what we were doing right now."

Her laugh in response to that was playfully cruel. "You call this training? You're in for a big surprise tomorrow morning, then."

xxx

After leaving the clones out to continue wind training, Naruto went below deck with Yumi to go to sleep. It was safe to say he didn't get much of it – between the hard surface that was the wood floor and Yumi's intention of sleeping on top of him, it could be difficult to get comfortable.

And it was worth mentioning that Yumi's shirt, already pretty low cut, kept falling to reveal more cleavage. The situation was bittersweet, really. To be so close to those divine globes without being able to touch them was tortuous.

Shuddering, he immediately sent that train of thought off a bridge. Repeating his _I am not a pervert_ mantra, Naruto moaned quietly and tried to return to the wonderful land of dreams.

Unfortunately, an intimate acquaintance of his had other ideas.

"Good morning." She seemed to make a moment out of accidentally pushing her chest into his face before getting off him.

Naruto closed his eyes and prepared to get some rest, now that he'd gotten, ahem, something off of his chest. Apparently though, he'd missed the notion of what was going on this morning last night.

"It's time for a morning spar, Naruto-kun." Yumi rubbed his shoulder gently in an attempt to get the blond up.

"Five more minutes," the sleepless Kyuubi jinchuuriki mumbled. He received a shock, quite literally, when he felt sparks of electricity from Yumi's hands course through his system.

"Ahh!" Naruto screeched. "I'm up."

Yumi couldn't resist a grin as he sat up hurriedly. "Are you sure you're cut out to be a ninja?"

Naruto's mouth hung slightly open. Did she really say that? Yes, this would not be tolerated – she was practically calling him Sakura, and that was not acceptable.

Catching Yumi a bit off guard, Naruto tackled her to the side. Her look of shock quickly turned to giggles as Naruto tickled her relentlessly.

"No! Damn you!" Naruto was attacking her sides, what appeared to be her most ticklish spot, with a vengeance.

"Are you sure _you're_ cut out for this?" Naruto mocked amidst the extremely girlish giggles.

"You're leaving so many openings it's.. ridiculous!" Finally not being able to stand it anymore, Yumi locked her legs around Naruto's form and hoisted him over her head. Grabbing him as he went over, Yumi pushed him onto his stomach and straddled him.

"The great Yumi has a weakness for tickling," Naruto still chuckled from his defeated postion face-down.

"Tell a soul and I'll fry you," she responded sweetly. The embarrassed girl took one of the numerous bottles of sake lying nearby and chugged it, idly gyrating on Naruto's back all the while.

"Yumi-chan, can we go train now?" The motion on his back felt bizarre, and seeing as how Yumi kept downing alcohol he worried that she may get drunk, despite previous claims that jinchuuriki metabolized alcohol fast.

Suddenly though, the scenery changed and Naruto was back in the woods outside of Konoha where he'd first met Yumi. Except this time she was nowhere to be seen. The only thing Naruto now was the surrounding forest, but it was light now. Also, the recent fugitive was lying in the bushes under a tree, head throbbing like mad.

"What.. happened?" Naruto asked aloud to himself. He sat up quickly, making his head pulse unpleasantly. What really bothered him though was his location. Why wasn't he on the ship bound for Kiri with his new acquaintance, Yumi?

"No," Naruto started to sob. "It couldn't be a dream, I know it."

Looking around though, he had to admit that he wasn't convinced. Judging from the mental clarity accompanying consciousness and a throbbing head, Naruto sadly figured that he'd just hit a tree and got knocked out at some point.

Two figures in black robes congruent to what he'd seen that night in the caravan stepped into Naruto's line of sight. Most of their features were not recognizable, but Naruto could make out sadistic grins and a large, strange triangular cross dangling from their necks.

"Naruto Uzumaki, you have committed sins in resisting Jashin-sama! Prepare to die." The two psychos nodded at each other and rushed Naruto, pulling out their scythes as well.

"What the hell?" Naruto said blankly. A bit slow to gain his bearings, he barely avoided being cut in two when one of the guys slashed at him. Jumping back, he ran up the trunk of the tree to the side and threw a few kunai at them. They were easily deflected and now the goons were coming for him again, this time faster.

_Shit, I need a game plan,_ he thought. Strange though, he was still able to run up that tree. _If my dream with Yumi was just a dream, why can I do that?_ Pushing his thoughts aside for the moment, Naruto proceeded to make 200 clones and jump into hiding.

The goons stopped in their tracks, leaving the Narutos to smirk as a result of thinking their intimidation tactic worked, but they were dead wrong. In fact, it just revved the two up even more.

"Look Brother! We can make him feel the righteous pain of nonbelievers!" They both took off their hoods, leaving Naruto to see sickly pale faces adorned with bloodshot eyes. They grabbed the crosses around their necks and injected the pointed ends of them into their arms.

"Jashin-sama! Help us win a motherfucking good kill!" Gold chakra poured out of the crosses and into their bodies, giving them a more maniacal look complete with gross, bulging veins.

Taking the pointed tips out, there were two black blurs as the self-proclaimed brothers got busy demolishing the Naruto clones.

The Naruto clones for their part responded well, going in in large groups brandishing kunai. Besides a few cuts and bruises on the holy warriors however, their effort was doomed to be futile.

The two robed figures, being surrounded and faced with a mass of incoming clones from all directions, nodded to each other once more.

"Ninja Art: Demon Speed!" Their scythes, both moving perfectly in an arc of 180 degrees each, moved so fast there seemed to be a countless dozen of them. With this, the first group of Naruto clones were annihilated, most of the rest soon following as a result of the shock wave.

"Gah!" The real Naruto had been among the back rank of the attacking bunch and was hurtled backwards into a tree. Coughing up a bit of blood, he managed a small smile in accomplishing his task.

"You fucking bitch!" the one Jashinist snarled. His cross had managed to be taken off with Naruto's kunai. It was then embedded in a tree and picked up by one off the few remaining Naruto clones, who gave the original a thumbs-up and fled the scene.

"No, you asshole! Brother, seize the demon while I take back my gift!" Feeling his power start to fade, he chased after the doppelganger.

"You shall pay, foul beast!" The remaining brother sprinted towards Naruto, intent on finishing him off so he could be taken to the boss.

The blond target shakily put up his hands in the Shadow Clone seal. What he was trying to do probably would not work, but if he was going to die anyway he might as well give it a shot.

As the scythe was mere feet away from fatally wounding him, Yumi appeared in a flash of white light. She stopped the cursed instrument with one hand, also exerting chakra to dispel the technique.

"What?" Naruto asked groggily. He registered the slow back-and-forth motion associated with life at sea and didn't know what to make of it.

"That was a genjutsu," Yumi explained. "Your ineptitude in even knowing what you were under is alarming; techniques involving the mind can be much more devastating than those of the body."

"So I'm not dreaming now?"

"No, but you may wish you were soon. I used the jutsu primarily to test your level of skill so that we can focus on areas of improvement." Yumi played with her hair distractedly as she thought of what training to implement. "Yes, I think we'll start with taijutsu. You're also not physically fast enough and cannot break a genjutsu, but we'll get to those later."

Naruto frowned. "Aww, Yumi-chan. You got me all pumped up for learning wind jutsu and now you want me to go do boring taijutsu."

"Then I have a deal for you, blondie. Beat me in a spar and I'll help you with whatever you want." Yumi suddenly gave a devious smirk. "However, if I win, then we play by my rules."

Naruto sported his own smirk in response to that, instinctively dropping into a low stance. "You're on!" Naruto threw several kunai and ran at her, planning on tackling her and ending the spar quickly.

"Impatient are we?" Yumi sighed. "I didn't even say start yet." She imagined that many probably underestimated her close quarter combat skills. He'd never really seen her in action, and furthermore he was a male, and they consistently let themselves have macho feeling interfere with accurate measures of ability.

"It's unwise to attack when you don't know what your opposition is capable of." Grabbing the deck rail, Yumi dodged Naruto's lousy attempt at an offensive rush and swung around behind him, delivering a brutal kick to his back.

The older girl observed the clouds while Naruto went flying into the ocean. _Clear weather today,_ Yumi concluded satisfactorily. _And if things keep going our way, we'll be in Kiri in a number of days_.

Naruto surfaced, coughing out water. "Yumi-chan, get ready for round two!" Climbing on top of the water, he stared Yumi down competitively. She gave him a sly look and began walking toward him, obviously amused to have the initiative.

"I see you've taken what I said earlier to heart. You can't leave yourself open either though, which is why I'm going to win." She rushed the last short distance to Naruto and threw a straight right followed by a quick uppercut. Naruto blocked the right but was unable to see the uppercut, resulting in him going flying upward.

"Lucky shot!" was all Naruto managed to get out before taking to the skies. Knowing his impact to the water would probably be just as unpleasant as the last time, Naruto made a clone mid-flight and had it direct his momentum back to the ship.

"Guys, catch me!" Naruto was now relying on one of his minions of hitherto questionable loyalty to catch him. Otherwise, he'd be slamming into the deck, which is not something he felt like experiencing so early in the morning.

Yumi was mildly impressed as one of the clones rowing the ship caught Naruto triumphantly. Saving him from harm was something she did not want to do, the resistance to physical pain being the backbone of any strong ninja. Though in all honesty, the first impact of her kick alone would have killed many a ninja before they really registered the pain, but Naruto was special like that.

Yumi appeared sitting on the deck in a swirl of leaves, face unreadable. "I win, but your last performance was noteworthy enough for me to grant your wish."

"Sounds good." Naruto took off his wet, beloved jacket and wiped the blood from his face, the wound already having healed.

"Sasuke's going to stand no chance us soon, boss," the clone declared as it went back to the oar.

Yumi wagged her finger condescendingly. "Don't get ahead of yourself. Being a Uchiha male, he's already going to have years of training and a top-notch bloodline in his arsenal. Add that to the clan's solid taijutsu style in comparison with your own inadequate one, and you have a lot of work to do."

Naruto shrugged it off. "When do we start then?"

"Now. I'm going to work with you on taijutsu and wind manipulation at the same time with you using the clone trick." Yumi made many pillars of ice out from the water, then applying chakra to a kunai and throwing it straight through.

"That's wind manipulation?"

Yumi nodded. "This is the next step, a more difficult one at that. Thus, you'll probably be better off with as many clones as possible."

"Multi Shadow Clone Jutsu!" 500 clones appeared on the water, awaiting further instructions.

"Now try to apply the same force you used to cut the leaf to the end of the kunai, your goal being for it to go through the ice." Yumi said. "Also, it would probably help to try and keep the wind chakra as sharp and thin as possible." The Narutos all gave her enthusiastic replies and began working on getting the weapons through, each noting it was not as easy as Yumi had made it seem.

The knowledgeable silver-haired ninja gave a sigh before standing up and vanishing in another swirl of leaves. "I'll be back in a few minutes," was all she said.

Yumi appeared a far ways ahead where the ship was headed, preparing herself for what she was going to do. Sometimes she just wished she could borrow chakra from Naruto – her next jutsu was going to use a fair bit, so it would be awfully handy to have a chakra battery at her disposal.

Taking a deep breath and scratching the surface of her five-tails chakra reserves, Yumi performed the jutsu. "Ice Style: Modified Frozen Wasteland."

xxx

Naruto was so absorbed in his wind exercise concentration that he scarcely noticed Yumi return.

She placed her cold hands on his neck, rubbing them up and down in an attempt to warm them.

"Everything is ready."

Naruto jumped, cursing his lack of attention to his surroundings.

"Yumi-chan! Don't sneak up on me, or else . . ." He lunged at her, intent on placing her into submission again by lieu of tickling, but he was dismayed when she backflipped gracefully back out onto the water.

"Come get me!" She taunted him farther by sticking her ass out and swatting it playfully.

"Clones, watch the ship!" Naruto told them as he took off running after Yumi. He didn't know where she was going, but he was determined to get his rightfully earned revenge

xxx

Naruto stood on a large, frozen obstacle course. There were spikes, slopes, hills, holes and water clones all working against him.

"Umm, Yumi-chan, are you you sure this is safe?"

"Worst case scenario, you fall on your face and get an ice spike to the balls," she replied nonchalantly.

"And I didn't know you knew ice jutsu." _Why didn't I ask her earlier?_

She shrugged. "You never asked. Ice Style is a advanced mixture of water and wind elemental chakra. It is virtually impossible to learn if it's not in your blood, and considering I'm one of the few left, it will probably go extinct."

"So I can't learn it?" Naruto asked, disappointed.

"Probably not. Some can use it using preexisting ice, but that's unspectacular. There are rumors of Hanzo of the Salamander–"

"The leader of Ame?" Naruto interrupted.

"The _dictator_ of Ame, having learned it through his great mastery of water style ninjutsu, but since you lack great chakra control or amazing elemental prowess, I wouldn't bet on it." _Though it is possible._

"What can I help you you with though is your obviously sloppy taijutsu. From what I saw in the genjutsu, your skills are really not much better than those of an academy student."

Naruto frowned. "That's harsh, Yumi-chan. I know I could probably beat a lot of my genin class now that my speed and strength have increased."

"Yes," Yumi agreed, "you probably could. However, greater skill will always win out over greater strength, and when the two are combined you have a truly fearsome opponent."

Naruto groaned. "Okay, okay. How do I get better then?" He paused a second. "I don't think lecturing me is going to help."

Yumi gave perhaps the most disappointed, most emotional look he'd ever seen of her. "How foolish. Knowledge is power, something every good ninja knows. If you don't want my experience, so be it." She turned around and began walking off.

"No, no! Wait!" Naruto flailed is arms, trying not to lose her attention. "I'm stupid, sorry. I know every good ninja needs smarts; that's," he swallowed in preparation for his next groundbreaking statement, "one of the reasons Sasuke is stronger than me."

Yumi could feel the sting in his words and smiled, turning around to face him. "The first step to solving a problem is admitting there is one."

She had too much pride to admit she'd gone off on him in a more overbearing fashion than necessary, but it was probably for the best. Being treated nicely by your superiors was something Naruto shouldn't get used to - as if he wasn't already - and even though Yumi could only perhaps be classified as an experienced guide, it would be a good exercise for the blond.

"Now, the first thing I want to stress is–"

Naruto suddenly had to duck to evade sharp ice projectiles, ones that would have almost undoubtedly killed him unless for his now superhuman hearing.

"Killing your student is not a good idea," he finished dryly.

"More like," Yumi offered, "the element of surprise. This is one of the deciding factors in any battle, and should be planned on accordingly."

A water clone grabbed his arms from behind him, positioning them in front of his face and elbows tucked into his sides.

"You're destined to be more of a brawler, so I won't even bother teaching special moves extensively."

The clones continued showing him a basic stance, occasionally pressing her ample chest into his back – for added instruction, of course. Naruto proved aptly focused however, asking various questions on specific details.

"So I usually want my head leaned slightly forward, body positioned sideways with my feet shoulder-width apart, back heel slightly off the ground, forearms raised and hands close to my cheeks?" The Kyuubi jinchuuriki wanted to make up for his manners earlier by getting everything perfect.

"Yes," the real Yumi replied. "This is only one basic posture though, you must remember there are many that must be adapted to depending on the situation. Furthermore, you cannot remain rigid; the stiffest tree is most easily cracked, while the bamboo or willow survives by bending with the wind."

"This is a lot to absorb," Naruto said. "Still, it's much more educational than any of the academy teachers ever were. You're a great sensei, Yumi-chan."

The oblivious blond missed her blush, something that was all the more apparent because of her alabaster skin.

"Where do you know all this from anyway? You said you were a ninja before but you don't look that much older than me."

The Gobi jinchuuriki looked off plaintively. "That's all I've ever done," she muttered so lowly not even Naruto could pick it up.

"What?"

"Nothing." She still didn't like to think about _that_.

**You're a useless bitch only good for spreading your legs. **

Yumi pushed it away. _Shut up you fucking cunt!_

"Show me the stance." The water clone standing behind Naruto, having gone back to its post a few minutes ago, now lunged forward and pushed Naruto so he lost his balance.

"Again," Yumi drilled once he'd completed it.

He had had it mastered now, a basic way to block attacks, and a thought suddenly occurred to him. "I have an idea." Naruto made a clone using the chakra it would normally take to make a lot more. He pushed it hard and was pleased to find it didn't expel.

"What an awesome way to train!" he was crushed when a water clone pierced the clone with a long icicle, making Naruto frown.

"Why did you do that?" he asked in indignation.

"Be patient. Just because I've taught you a good stance doesn't automatically qualify you to spar. Being a ninja is hard work, something I work you'll understand once I _really _start teaching you a thing or two."

xxx

Hours later, as was the typically hard regimen Yumi imposed, Naruto was looking a little worn down. There were endless combinations he'd need to create sometime, especially being a brawler, as it would boost his effectiveness in battle. Yumi showed and made him practice, on ice mind you, different punches and kicks many times before being satisfied.

The tough sensei crossed her arms. "Good. Now run over and dispel that clone."

Naruto went to do so, but slipped and fell on his face rather expectantly.

"You knew that would happened, huh?" He hadn't moved beforehand much at all, and hadn't realized the implications of slick ice.

"To move on ice you don't necessarily have to run." Yumi grinned a bit guiltily at Naruto's pained look. "You can, but it requires chakra to be constantly distributed to your feet, as in water walking. Sometimes it can be beneficial to slide."

Naruto's deadpan look was quickly replaced by one of awe seeing Yumi effortlessly glide across the ice, going down a small hill and doing a figure eight.

"You can do this in fights?" a suddenly skeptical Naruto asked. Despite it being cool and something he wanted to try, Naruto failed to see if it had any real merit.

"Not much in most situations, I suppose, but it is an excellent chakra control exercise that you could work on later."

"Oh, okay then. Can I spar with a clone now?" he asked, hesitantly making the cross sign.

"Go ahead," Yumi told him. _I originally had more plans for Naruto, but for some reason I don't feel like it anymore. Oh well, perhaps I've been lecturing too much – an ounce of experience is, after all,_ _worth more than tons of preaching._

Making the clone, Naruto ran along the ice to get to a better vantage point. The clone was made with the chakra it took to make about 100, making it have a more stable chakra network that would allow it to withstand more punishment than the average duplicate.

Naruto explained this to the now sidelined Yumi, who nodded appreciatively at the wiser chakra expenditure.

_That's very interesting,_ she thought. _I don't quite understand it though – for one to make a shadow clone, they must split their chakra equally. This would normally mean 100 clones, but Naruto–the extra chakra control probably helping–seems to have compressed this all into one. Did he really split his chakra 100 times and manage to bundle it all into one?_

The clone took the initiative, throwing many kunai at the originial, some of which were embedded into the icy hill behind him.

"Oh, come on." The original grabbed his own kunai and deflected them boredly. "I put more chakra in you for _that_?"

The copy only smirked and kept coming, throwing more kunai aimed suspiciously near the ground. It came right up to the original, exactly how he wanted it, and started to attack. It kept throwing blows that Naruto blocked for the most part, now patiently waiting for his chance.

_Now! _The clone had extended itself too far, Naruto now easily grabbing its arm and using its momentum to propel it toward a set of ice spikes. Giving it a last kick for good measure, the blond watched in both triumph and sympathy as his clone crashed into the sharp ice.

And while that was a major blow, it would take a little more than that to dispel it. The clone got up, actually bleeding now, but looking like it could still go on. It took off one of the ice spikes and threw it at Naruto, who was still having a little trouble moving on the terrain.

He ducked, barely avoiding it, only to see a barrage of shuriken coming at him now. The jinchuuriki, now only wearing his black undershirt, was forced to grit his teeth and take the projectiles in his arm. He pulled them out quickly, trying to think of a plan.

He needed to get the clone away from those spikes. They were outright dangerous, dammit, and indirectly had nearly killed him.

The original went right in the small corner of the ice land to reengage the duplicate in taijutsu, but received a small shock when the clone grinned and unexpectedly pulled off a _very _large ice spike and went to greet the creator. If it went through, Naruto would have a lot more to worry about than working on his hand-to-hand skills.

"You bastard! You kicked that off while you were over there pretending to be hurt, didn't you?" His own clone had tricked him and Naruto would not stand for it. He had a couple of seconds before the painful impact, and driven by his fight-or-flight instinct, he pulled off the unthinkable.

Now, Naruto still was having a lot of problems adjusting to ice, meaning that he'd probably fall on his face again if he tried to run or turn out of the way. He'd listened to what Yumi said about constantly applying chakra to the soles of one's feet, but an amateur like Naruto – especially on the melting ice – still had a problem turning, inevitably slipping a bit when he did. Slipping would probably have been preferable to the potential risk what he was going to do, however.

Naruto managed to jump on the side of the hill beside him, barely avoiding the deadly spear of frozen liquid. He stuck there very briefly before swooping down and delivering a kick to the back of his clones head, knocking it down and making it slide across the area like an ice cube on the kitchen floor.

The real one fared much better, but coincidentally did not follow through well. He landed on his butt from extending his leg that far out, grimacing at the pain his lower body felt.

The clone on the other side of the ice finished itself off by stabbing itself, too weak to go on. Naruto made a conscious effort to avoid the memory, but was still hit with a portion of the pain he inflicted. The memory of the kick was one that made him go _damn_, realizing that it could give some future opponent brain damage.

"Shadow Clone Jutsu." He made another clone after getting up, this one with less chakra mixed in. Well, he hoped anyway, considering how difficult the feat was to perform.

Yumi rubbed her eyes tiredly as the two kept exchanging blows, suddenly feeling an intense drop of energy and a deep mumbling in the back of her mind. This did not spell good news.

"You're gradually getting better, Naruto-kun." The blond grinned as he blocked a punch and delivered a powerful hook, knocking the clone back. "However," Yumi continued, "if you want to be great, there is little I can tell you about taijutsu. Everyone is different and thus needs their own style," she said resolutely.

She shunshined back to the ship Naruto could see on the horizon, telling him she was going to alter their coordinates and then go to bed.

The blond listened intently, but had been so focused on another long-winded speech and her silently grieving appearance that he nearly missed his clone slowly moving a kunai towards his throat from above.

Reacting quickly, he grabbed the clone's arm and flipped the version of himself into one of the ice holes. Sighing, he threw one of the kunai that his clone had embedded in the ice slope earlier at it, making it disperse.

Sitting down and resting briefly, he was unfortunate enough to cause part of the hill above him, having melting and apparently having wind-enhanced kunai thrown being removed, collapse on him.

xxx

Naruto eventually made it back to the ship, albeit now with a headache and a growing hunger. Yumi was evidently asleep, but had at least had the foresight to leave him out the rest of the indian curry.

"Smells great." He could sense the clones' mouths water but ignored their pleas, walking up the main mast to the crow's nest for a great view.

Holding the big dish in his hands, the smoke rising up and soothing his nose and the warmth of the bowl, reminded him very much of ramen. That made him frown, but then he got to thinking about where he was.

Who would have thought that four days ago he'd be hundreds of miles from his home in the middle of the sea? Not him, for sure. It was actually kind of scary what Naruto did think he'd been doing a few days ago – that is, he had no real plans at all. That would probably have not lead anywhere.

But now the once aspiring Hokage was on a ship, dually made with the gorgeous girl he was traveling with, to the Mist. Sure, he hadn't had any ramen and was stuck with great but not comparable curry, but the prospect of adventure outweighed everything else.

xxx

Yumi awoke with a start, immediately putting a kunai into her hand and scanning the area. Looking around and seeing it was only her imagination, she wondered about something else – why wasn't Naruto down here warming her?

The beauty rubbed her still tired eyes and climbed onto the deck. It was late, sometime after midnight, she estimated, and unsurprisingly the Naruto clones had ceased rowing. Combined with the nearly complete lack of wind made the ship nearly stand still, something troublesome to Yumi.

Focusing for a second, Yumi located Naruto's vast chakra signature in the crow's nest and scaled it quickly. She'd contemplated checking their coordinates again, trying to get them back on full speed, but decided she was too tired to bother.

Reaching the top, she smiled briefly seeing Naruto was sleeping well. Her loss of ease quickly turned into a very rare one of fear and dread. Her hands shook and her pulse reverberated inside her head in complete horror.

_Not them,_ she thought frantically. _Not now! I won't let that freak do this, not after I've come this far!_


End file.
